US missionaries shot dead in Uganda

Unidentified gunmen have shot dead two American missionaries in northwestern Uganda, police said today.

Warren Pett and his wife Donna Pett were shot last night after seven armed men wearing military uniforms raided a technical college where the couple taught, near Yumbe, some 300 miles northwest of Kampala, said Okot Araa, the district police chief.

The US Embassy confirmed that the missionaries had been killed, but gave no further details.

“We are investigating the case and no arrests have been made at the moment,” Araa said. “I can’t tell you the motive of the attackers since this area has been very peaceful with no incidents of rebel activities.”

The Petts were teaching at the Esther Evangelistical School of Technology, 15 miles east of Yumbe town, and worked for a local aid group called Here is Life.

A Ugandan student was also killed in the raid, Araa said.

The attackers looted the college and destroyed huts where college staff lived, he added.